Savoy Hotel attack

The Savoy Hotel attack occurred from 4 to 5 March 1975 when an eight-man Palestine Liberation Organization commando took over the Savoy Hotel in Tel Aviv, Israel, killing 8 civilians and 3 Israeli soldiers. Musa Juma al-Tallka, Muhammad Mashala, Hader Muhammad, Ziad Talk al-Zrir, Musa Awad, Muhammed al-Masri, Abu al-Lel, and Ahmed Hamid - receiving orders from Khalil al-Wazir - planned to take hostages, demand the release of Palestinian prisoners, and secure air transport to Damascus, Syria, and they were ordered to kill the hostages and commit suicide if the Israeli authorities refused to acquiesce to their demands. At 11:00 PM on 4 March 1975, the Palestinians arrived on a beach in Tel Aviv after leaving an Egyptian merchant ship from Sarafenda, Lebanon on a boat, and responding policemen destroyed one of the boats, which contained weapons. The PLO commando failed to break into a movie theater, so the guerrillas instead took over the Savoy Hotel, the only lighted building on the street. Three people were killed during the takeover of the hotel, and one Golani Brigade soldier on home leave was killed while resisting the attackers. The Palestinians barricaded themselves in the hotel with the hostages and blew up a part of the building, threatening to execute the hostages if the Israelis did not release 20 Palestinian prisoners within four hours. The Palestinians sent an Arab-speaking Jewish hostage to negotiate with the soldiers, and the negotiator gave the soldiers detailed information on the militants. Early on the next morning, the Sayeret Matkal counter-terrorist unit stormed the hotel, killing seven of the eight terrorists while five hostages and two soldiers were killed. al-Tallka was arrested and sentenced to death in March 1976, but his sentence was commuted. Four Egyptian crew members were arrested for helping the terrorists in landing in Tel Aviv.